In a Mystery of Heroism, Stephen Crane emphasizes the fact that heroism does not exist because there are only ordinary people in different situations.

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Tej Patel, Travis Hynson, John Melchior
OUTLINE
Main Points
  • Fred Collins a union soldier during the Civil War
  • Collins was thirsty, and was being taunted by his fellow soldiers
  • Collins then goes to his Captain and asks for permission to get some water from a well, meaning he would have to cross the battlefield
  • Fred Collins goes to the well, when he reaches he becomes extremely terrified
  • Collins fills up a bucket of water from the well and begins his journey back to his fellow soldiers
  • On his way back he comes across a wounded soldier, whom he gives some water to
  • He continues on his way back when he finally returns
  • Collins gives the bucket to his fellow soldiers and they horse around and drop the bucket with the water, losing all the water
  • Collins went through tremendous fear, and it all went to waste
Literary Analysis
  • Naturalism - an offshoot of realism; like realistic writers, naturalist sought to portray common people and ordinary life accurately
  • They also sought to describe the effect of natural and social forces suchs as instinct and environment on the individual
Reading Strategy
  • Visualizing - Forming mental pictures with the works
Significance
  • Ordinary people would do anything to survive
Connections
  • Civil War Era
  • Death/ injury
  • main characters all did something to risk their own well being for self gain